11/22/2006

The Kremlin Minutes

"Speaking Openly"

+++ A debate about Afghanistan in the Politburo that took place between Jan. 21-22, 1987

Shevardnadze: It is clear that we marched in with absolutely no understanding of the psychology of the people and the real situation in the country. And everything we have done and continue to do in Afghanistan is incompatible with the moral countenance of our country.

Gromyko: Does that mean that it was wrong that we invaded?

Shevardnadze: That too. The attitudes toward us there are far more negative than we believe. And for all this we spend more than $1 billion a year. This is a huge sum, and someone must take responsibility for this.

Ryzhkov: The earlier information was not objective.

Marshal Sokolov: The military situation has deteriorated. Winning such a war militarily is impossible. The Afghan army costs us three billion rubles. The 40th Army lost 1,280 men in 1986.

Gorbachev: There is no stepping back from our new line! When we marched into Afghanistan, we were blinded by ideological issues and believed we could jump across three stages at once: from feudalism to socialism. Now we can speak openly about the situation.

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